I'm addicted to EL34 based tube amps, I need help.

I have a Dynaco Stereo 70, a Van Alstine Ultimate 70, Conrad Johnson CAV 50, and a Conrad Johnson MV60 tube amp. All based on the EL34 tube. Now I'm looking into buying a Marantz 8b. I think I'm forming a habit and I can't seem to stop. Anyone else have this problem?

 

Swap in some KT77s or 6P3se tubes if they work for your app. You might like them even better.

 

I've got a U70, that's all I need.

 

I love a good EL34 amp - great "all around performers" that get the all important midrange right.

I've never been a big fan of 6L6 based amplifiers - at least the ones I owned, like the H-K Citation V - were rather forward/glassy in the upper-mids. YMMV - since obviously circuit design and output iron quality will trump the type of output tube used.

 

Steve,
I would be very interested in knowing which 6L6GC amps you recommend. (stereo or monoblocks)

 

Steve,
Thanks for the reply. I tried to buy some MC30s a couple of years ago but the deal fell through. I still want some but many look beat. Also, I'm not plugged into eBay. If you know where I could find a decent matched pair, please let me know.

 

Agreed. The 6L6GC to my ears is the ultimate well-rounded audio output tube. Not that I haven't enjoyed listening to some EL34-based amps, but I always go back to the 6L6. Wasn't the priority in the design of the EL34 to get more power output? (No intention at all for this to be a thread crap

 

I'm with Wes and Steve. The 6L6 provides a nice balance of speed and power, and can sound very linear.

 

That's key. I've heard 6L6s in amps that didn't have great designs, making the music non-linear and edgy.

But in a well designed circuit, with really good output transformers, the 6L6 sings beautifully.

 

Everybody has their favorites, of course. Personally, I like the sound of the EL84 / 6BQ5 better than the EL34 sound. EL84 has a sweeter sound, smoother for vocalists. With some albums, played back thru an EL84 amp, they sound as tho they are in your living room. I think the EL84 may have the best "sound stage" of all.

 

Well let me know if you want to sell because I have a couple of EL84 amps that I'm always on the look out for good tubes for.

 

The EL84 has gorgeous midrange, but I've always found EL84 amps to be light in the butt.

 

Perhaps you need to find a Dynakit ST-35; there are rumors that it's the sleeper of the Dyna line, with kick azz output trannies...

 

Years ago (late 80's), I found a Dynaco ST-70 and a PAS3. It was with this pair that I cut my teeth with the tube gear, learning how to rebuild and restore. Got it all going and enjoyed the sound, but it wasn't quite like what I remembered hearing when I was growing up with my dad's Scott 299-C (7591 tubes).

Around the same time I found a single Heathkit W4AM that used 5881 outputs, a variant of the 6L6. I rebuilt that one too and found the sound I had been seeking with the Dynaco. I just loved it! Beautiful but very slow if that makes sense. Very realistic vocals. I set out to find another, and did through a classified ad. Not as easy in the pre-Internet days! Of course, the days of finding tube gear at the corner thrift are long gone too! So, 6L6 for me! Coming in second- 7591's.

 

I picked these W4-AMs up for $200 locally a couple of years ago. The power transformers had been replaced (apparently the originals are know to fail - or so I've been told). I have a great tech that went through them to replace caps and anything else that needed changed. Had to replace two 5881s with NOS Tung-Sols and two 6SN7 GTBs with NOS Sylvanias (all tubes match now). I like them. My tech likes them. For the money I have in them, they sound great.

 

Didn't the 30 come with 1614 metal envelope tubes? How do those compare to the 6L6 GCs?

 

Years ago I had a Golden Tube amp that used the 5881, which is a variant of the 6L6. But neither type really caught on with current audio tube amp makers for whatever reason (as Mr Hoffman's vintage recommendations indicate). These tube types seem to go in fads where one type will be popular for a decade or so. In the 90s most tube pre or intg amps were using the 6922/6DJ8 as a signal tube and then that was dropped and now most use 12AX/12AT.

It is true that the mostly inefficient speakers around today make it a commercial necessity to add wattage as much as can be done with the basic design. That inevitably impacts sonic quality.

 

I picked up my completely restored pair of MC30s (not cheap but absolutely fantastic) from Yves Beauvais. There was an article in Stereophile that profiled him and his work. Great stuff.


http://vintagevacuumaudio.com/products/mcintosh-mc30/

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/interview-with-yves-beauvais.314866/

 

I think the 6DJ8/6922s started showing up in gear when the U.S. government started selling them as surplus (Sylvania/Philips made tubes from the 80s showed up in quantity). That supply has dried up, and there's current production versions available now that sound ok - there's far more 12A series tubes in production right now.

 

How is this a problem?